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Prophets

Who was ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb?

The Prophet ﷺ said: 'If there were a prophet after me, it would be ʿUmar.' The man whose justice became legendary and whose conquests reshaped the ancient world.

10 passages from 6 books in the library

Where the answer comes from

The classical approach.

These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.

Read them closely. If a passage doesn't sit right, open the full book in the library and listen to the chapter around it. Context in the classical tradition is everything.

Cover of Book 19: The Book of Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil
Book 19: The Book of Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "Umar then began to cry again, saying, by Allah, a night and a day of Abu Bakr are better than Umar and the family of Umar."

  2. "Now, regarding the story of Daba ibn Muhsin, it is narrated from Umar that they once had Abu Musa al-Ashari as a leader in Basra."

  3. "Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, began to cry and said, by Allah, you are more virtuous and rightly guided than him."

Cover of Book 12: Book of Marriage
Book 12: Book of Marriage
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "The prohibition of proposing over another's proposal is agreed upon from the Hadith of Ibn Umar, which states that one should not propose to a woman if his brother has already proposed, unless the initial suitor leaves her or permits him."

  2. "Umar ibn Abdulaziz said, If truth aligns with desire, it is like the froth on the top of a stream, and it is not impossible for both self-interest and religious duty to be motivating together."

Cover of Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
Book 40: The Book of the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife
Imam al-Ghazali · Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din

11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali → · Provenance →

  1. "He then asked do you know that the messenger of Allah was on Thabir in Mecca with Abu Bakr Umar and me and the mountain shook"

  2. "Recounted that during his final illness Umar would say Oh Allah ease my death for them even for just an hour of the day on"

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